Influence of moisture content on seed germination & plant growth efficiency.

Moisture content indicates the amount of water present in a substance. In hydroponics context, the seed moisture content affects the germination efficiency, while the air moisture content affecting plant growth. Seed water uptake is the first process in germination. The first objective of this research is to study the effect of seed water content on germination efficiency. Seeds were soaked in different periods which were 60, 120, 180 and 240 minutes respectively. Results demonstrated that the seed moisture content increased with increasing in soaking period. The highest seed moisture content was 43.5±1.4% at 240 minutes soaking period, also corresponds to the highest germination rate at 100%. The germination efficiency increased with increasing seed moisture content. When the seed moisture content was too low, the enzyme in the seeds fails to activate. To analyze the effect of air moisture content on plant growth of Lactuca Sativa, a growth chamber with varying air relative humidity at 55, 75 and 95% was constructed. The growth efficiency in terms of plant height, plant growth per day, width and length of leave, fresh and dry weight of lettuce decreased when relative humidity increased from 55% to 95% due to the transpiration rate was the lowest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]